Shakin’ your cocktail feather

As the cold and dark winter draws swiftly around us there is but one thing to warm the cockles on a dreary evening. Cocktails, the perfect pick-me-up for pre or post-prandial pleasure. Imperial students, you’re now in the nexus of the UK’s cocktail scene, just down the road from the Savoy hotel where ‘The Savoy Cocktail Book’ was first compiled in 1930. If you’re sitting on a trust fund from Daddy that could have bailed out Iceland, then this is the place to be. However if like us your recession-frayed purse strings are tightening slowly around your neck, read on to enjoy cocktails on the cheap.

The cocktail is reputed to have been invented in New Orleans in 1794 by Antoine Peychaud, a pharmacist by trade, as a tonic for his customers. The word is derived from “coquetier”, the French for egg cup, which is the means still used to measure cocktail ingredients. History shows us mixology has its roots in science and should therefore come naturally to us Imperial students (with the obvious exception of geologists who can’t even mix a snakebite). The temperature of your spirit is key to the quintessential cocktail. Gin, vodka and rum is served ice cold as the chill reduces tongue sensitivity to sweet and sourness and enhances dryness, whereas good whisky must be served at room temperature to allow the complex aromatics to evaporate and diffuse through the palate.

So now we have whetted your appetite, where are you going to go? Luckily we’ve done all the hard work for you and have paid the price in cirrhosis and hangovers. The Loft in Clapham, an exclusive upstairs urban retreat sells dribblingly good cocktails and has regular two for one nights with fantastic views of the kebab shop across the road, which will deep fry anything if you ask nicely. If you’re in the mood for Fulham, try Chateau 6 for a classier/sloanier kind of night. Just lay back on the faux-leather Chesterfields while being regaled with stories of Mr Abercrombie’s gap yah. Our personal favourite, Anam Bar in Angel, is a little bit further afield but well worth the extra time. Tucked away down Chapel market, this chilled out unpretentious venue does the tastiest cocktails we’ve tried so far. We highly recommend the outrageously quaffable ‘Dr Strangelove’ a smooth mix of Buffalo Trace Bourbon with Port, Saké and Tuaca, tickled with caramel. Also topping our list is the Chilli ‘n’ Chocolate, red chilli muddled and shaken with Tequila, coffee and butterscotch liqueurs and cocoa powder. Head down on a Thursday and get any cocktail for four pounds.

As the Imperial bible New Scientist rightly said “Humankind has gone to almost absurd lengths to make ethanol palatable” but we’ve gone one step further and made them cheap as well. In the 1790s happy hour began at 3pm so let’s raise our glasses to Peychaud and have a little pick-me-up before final lectures.